Zippy's Friends in Slovakia

Project facts

Project promoter:
League for Mental Health Slovakia
Project Number:
SK10-0019
Target groups
Children
Status:
Completed
Initial project cost:
€43,334
Final project cost:
€40,832
From EEA Grants:
€ 36,749
The project is carried out in:
Bratislavský kraj

More information

Description

Given an increasingly high number of children of Slovakia suffering from psychosomatic illnesses and unable to build healthy social relationships, the project seeks to improve social skills of first-year pupils of selected elementary schools in Bratislava and Trnava and their ability to handle challenging situations. In order to achieve the goal of the project, trainers of the programme and teachers will use their newly gained competence. Moreover, the effectiveness of the programme will be measured by testing the participation of the children and teachers. There is 10% of Roma children and young people in the target group participating in the project.

Summary of project results

An increasing number of children of Slovakia suffer from psychosomatic illnesses and do not know how to build healthy social relationships. The outcomes of the project will be maintained via methodologies translated and teachers trained in ZF, who will continue in implementing this program. The objective of the project was to improve both social skills and the ability of a selected group of first-year elementary school students in two regions of Slovakia to handle challenging situations, thus preventing their possible asocial behaviour at later age. The objective was fully met. The long-term impact lies in the improvement of the mental health and social skills of children involved in the program. The outcome of the project was defined as: improved social skills and ability to handle challenging situations by first-year pupils from participating elementary schools in Bratislava and Trnava. In Slovakia, this was to be achieved through the pilot intervention project Zippy’s Friends, thus testing its readiness for use in other schools. The outcome was fully met. Main outputs: 3 new trainers of Zippy´s Friends programme; 25 teachers trained in ZF; and 400 pupils involved in the programme. Beneficiaries were involved mainly through an active participation in the ZF programme where they learnt how to handle pressing situations. Also, their confidence was improved, enabling them to handle various hard situations in the future easier. The donor partnership achieved that 3 employees were trained, thus introducing this international programme to Slovakia. In addition to detailed training in the methodology and materials used within the ZF programme, the partner organised a visit to Norwegian schools where this programme was implemented. Slovak ZF programme trainers had a chance to see its practical implementation, which helped them in its implementation in Slovakia.

Summary of bilateral results

Voksne for Barn is a Norwegian non-governmental organisation with a goal and mission to improve the mental health of children. It has been active in this field for 53 years and has about 3,000 members. The organisation offers services and programs for children, young people, parents and experts. Currently, 215 volunteers of this organisation work in various communities, and are involved in activities focused on children’s mental health improvement. Voksne for Barn has been implementing the Zippy’s Friends program in Norway since 2005. So far, they have managed to implement it at more than 600 schools in the country. Experts from Voksne for Barn trained 3 Slovak experts in using the methodology of the Zippy’s friends program and provided both personal expert help in teacher training and continual external support to the implementation of the Zippy’s Friends program in the course of the project. The social skills and abilities of children to handle challenging situations were improved thanks to learning through Zippy’s Friends program. This was achieved through expert training, know-how exchange and professional support provided by the experienced Norwegian partner. The goal of the project was to implement the program in the school systems of both countries, to continue working together on shaping the shared priorities of education leading toward improving the mental health of children and assuring their healthy development. The partnership within the project makes it possible for the Zippy’s Friends program to be implemented at other schools and educational institutions. It will also contribute to increasing the number of trained experts.